Less than three years ago, Brian Kelly first arrived in Baton Rouge as coach of the LSU Tigers to a cacophony of fanfare. The former aspiring politician was treated as if he were a border-conquering hero who came to the Bayou after a shocking departure from a successful stint with the Notre Dame Fighting Irish.

Taking the stage for the first time, dressed in purple and gold regalia, he told his assembled constituency that being part of the SEC was both the opportunity and the challenge of a lifetime.

In the wake of a 42-13 dismantling by the Alabama Crimson Tide that sent those same fans rushing to the exits of Tiger Stadium on a humid night with 15 minutes to play, that opportunity seems almost as remote as the challenge seems daunting . .

“What we thought would be an exciting night turned out to be a disappointing night,” said an even-tempered Kelly, who lacked any kind of furor he showed after a loss to the USC Trojans delivered a punch. “We didn’t make the most of the opportunities we had. Certainly, a lot of things didn’t go well tonight.”

Don’t try anything. Nothing went in the right direction for the Tigers. They scored a pair of field goals in the first half and then needed 11 seconds left on the clock to avoid not scoring a touchdown against the Tide for the first time since being eliminated from the same site in 2018. it’s hard to find more lopsidedness in SEC play than what happened Saturday night.

“I felt like that was probably the most complete game we’ve ever played,” said Alabama coach Kalen DeBoer, who didn’t try to rub it in but underscored the point the scoreboard made anyway. “When you get into a tough environment, you just play game after game and just stay the course.”

They did, and now that ultimate team trail, once blown away by a still-unfathomable loss to the Vanderbilt Commodores, is back on track toward another College Football Playoff appearance and a customary Alabama shot at a national title.

The one where the Massachusetts salesman is trying to make his way in the South and is currently trying to manage the Tigers? Well, that seems more geared towards a New Year’s trip to Florida that no one wants to go on.

Kelly is learning almost in real time this season the impact the expanded College Football Playoff will have on coaches — not just those across the country, but very acutely those in the SEC. There is an assumption not only that you have to conquer the field with the amount of resources available, from NIL funds to facilities to a virtually unparalleled recruitment base, but that you have to gain something at the same time.

But to miss the field completely, as it seems certain, will this be the case with a third defeat on the CV? Well, that might be as big a mistake for the 102,283 LSU fans who filled Death Valley as it was for the state’s governor to trot out a real Tiger on Saturday because the real school mascot didn’t care.

“We had a plan to stop the quarterback run. We didn’t achieve that. I take responsibility for it and (defensive coordinator) Blake (Baker) is not going to hide from the responsibility. We have to put our players in position to succeed,” Kelly said. “We don’t trade any of them, there’s no waiver wire; we don’t bring anyone forward from the demo team. We have to come up with the right answers to what works best for the guys we have, and that hasn’t worked very well the last few games.”

At this point, the roster is what it is – and entirely made by the head coach. While there are building blocks that could form the core of a contender — freshman Caden Durham averaged 7.9 yards per carry, sophomore Whit Weeks led the team with 15 tackles — it’s not good enough. The talent isn’t there when you compare it to LSU teams of the past and even worse, the quality players present seem to have a knack for making a play they shouldn’t be playing in the exact spot. Real shouldn’t.

The issues Kelly failed to address during his time in Baton Rouge were on full display in the legendary “middle eight” – the final four minutes of the first half and the first four of the second – against the grain. Trailing 14-6, the Tigers took advantage of some momentum by stopping Alabama at midfield on fourth down. Death Valley once again embodied its nickname, as the oppressive humidity was matched by the volume of sound raining down on the field in a suffocating manner.

Only instead of stifling the Tide, it was LSU that wrapped its hands tightly around its throat.

On the first play after taking over, quarterback Garrett Nussmeier unleashed the depth of a subpar effort of 27 of 42, 239 yards and one touchdown with the first of his three turnovers. Linebacker Jihaad Campbell ran virtually untouched on a delayed blitz up the middle, forcing the junior signal caller to be flushed to the left. There was no escape, however, as Campbell hit the ball free onto the wet grass and all but gifted a fumble for an eagerly waiting Tim Smith.

Tide star quarterback Jalen Milroe then took just three plays to find the end zone, weaving through the middle of the LSU defense with ease to underscore the problems with mobile quarterbacks. He tied the LSU team’s rushing total with 5:30 left in the second quarter and didn’t look back on his way to 185 yards and four scores on the ground to cap a crisp 12-of-18 passing night overshadow.

Milroe also delivered enough highlights to put him back in the hunt for the Heisman Trophy, taking advantage of Nussmeier throwing an interception into the end zone by converting it into a 28-yard draw on the other end that found the promised land and all but confirmed that the defeat was. on. Fittingly, given the Tigers’ undisciplined nature this season, a personal foul (which caused fans to start throwing objects onto the field) extended the drive, giving even Milroe a chance.

From one score to 28-6 in the third quarter in what felt like the blink of an eye. A 72-yard touchdown down the right sideline on the first play of the fourth quarter twisted the knife one final time and sent the remaining fans rushing for the exit.

“I thought our game plan was really good. Obviously his speed is really good and you can’t really take that into account in practice or on film,” said linebacker Greg Penn III, one of seven Tigers to make seven or more tackles in the game. “He’s a great player. I thought our plan was good; they just went out and executed.”

“I believe we sent the message to every team that Alabama can run the football,” offensive lineman Tyler Booker said. “This is what we are able to do every week.”

If Alabama is capable of taking a team off the field with a 29-point lead in a big matchup, why isn’t LSU? The Tigers are not replacing the best coach the sport has ever seen, nor have they lost several key contributors to the transfer portal. That they have shown prowess, like in the upset of the Ole Miss Rebels a few weeks ago, only makes matters worse.

Kelly is a good coach. In a college football universe with only three active head coaches with a national title, he could honestly be a great player. That’s what longevity and a dozen 10-win seasons get you.

But he and LSU have suddenly reached a crossroads they never expected, let alone just a three-year contract after a 10-year contract. The Tigers’ administration isn’t going to be happy and show him the door like the Texas A&M Aggies did with Jimbo Fisher, but those once-creeping doubts that Kelly wasn’t the solution he was made out to be, well, they are. now a full-blown crisis of confidence.

Kelly is just 5-9 against ranked opponents over the last four years. That record isn’t terrible, and he’s won an SEC West title and produced a Heisman Trophy winner along the way.

Yet his successor in South Bend, Marcus Freeman, is 10-5 against ranked opponents in the same time frame despite recruiting and landing transfers at a much lower clip than Kelly. On the sidelines, DeBoer is 15-3 during his stints at Washington and now Alabama.

Both have shown an Achilles heel that Kelly doesn’t have by losing to the completely unexpected (DeBoer to the Commodores, Freeman inexplicably to the Northern Illinois Huskies and Marshall Thundering Herd). But both also have their teams firmly focused on the playoffs.

That’s the name of the game in 2024 and the standard the 68 power conference coaches must adhere to.

“We’re now dealing with a second loss in the SEC,” Kelly said a few minutes after solemnly walking off the court to cries of his ouster from the handful of fans who stuck around just to hear him deliver such a message. “We are uphill.”

Right now, LSU isn’t even on the mound. That’s the problem. Kelly signed up for that kind of pressure. He asked for the challenge. As he now realizes, life comes at you quickly if you are not ready for the occasion.

For a coach who always strives to be mentioned more among peers like Kirby Smart and Nick Saban than lumped in with the James Franklins of the world, Kelly, it increasingly seems, has never been up to the task with this program that has been increasingly disrupted. coaches, but also coaches who win national titles.

“You’re living on borrowed time if you keep putting yourself in these awkward positions,” Kelly said. “Tonight the dam broke.”

That doesn’t mean much to the LSU coach. He’s already underwater and watches the opportunity wash over him.